Old Boys World War One Commemoration
Mr Bob Curry and Mr Philip Swann from the Old Boy’s Society recently travelled to France to visit the Somme battlefields. Poppies were placed on the graves of 7 Old Boys in 4 different cemeteries. A wreath was laid at the Theipval Memorial for 11 Old Boys who fell but where no remains have been traced. It was a very moving and poignant occasion in what is an extremely significant year of remembrance and commemoration of World War One.
Envision Community Work
Tim Knappett who is the Grad Project Co-ordinator for Envision visited Handsworth Grammar School to receive a cheque from Mr Conway and Mr Bird and told us; “I think it’s safe to say we’ve had a really good experience with Handsworth Grammar and the young people seem to have got a lot out of it.”
Tim went on to report that Handsworth Grammar School has cumulatively fundraised the largest amount of money out of all the 10 schools who took part in the Community Apprentice programme. The total stands at an impressive £3,679.61 raised by our students. Other schools involved have been Cadbury College and Bishop Vesey Grammar School.
Team Inspire wrote a very impressive Social Impact Report which has seen them reach the final 5 teams of the competition out of 23. They will be pitching their project to Sir Albert Bore in his boardroom on the 16th June between 4 – 5.30pm. If chosen, they will win an all-expenses paid trip to London which will include a trip on the London Eye, a tour of Westminster, dinner on the South Bank and potentially a meeting with Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd MP.
Envision also have their end of year event that all students are invited to, at Edgbaston Cricket Ground on the 25th June. There will be other awards up for grabs here and the three remaining teams at Handsworth Grammar School are nominated in the categories:
- Teamwork and Resilience
- Creativity and Enterprise
- Public Engagement and Education
The Community Apprentice film, featuring Handsworth Grammar School students, may be shown for the first time at the end of year event.
Word of the Week – Ostentatious
The word of the week commencing 2nd June 2014 is: Ostentatious.
This means characterized by pretentious or showy display; designed to impress.
“a simple design that is glamorous without being ostentatious”
This display can be found in our Library.
Glasgow Commonwealth Games Selection
Jaswant Shergill a former student of Handsworth Grammar School has been selected for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games this August in the 63kg weightlifting competition. Jaswant is the current UK record holder at Under 20 level for the clean and jerk.
Jaswant was a student here in the Sixth Form having joined HGS from St John Wall School. He has successfully completed an English degree at Birmingham University, and has been a regular visitor to HGS this year, as he hopes to pursue a career in teaching.
We wish him every success in Glasgow in August.
Year 10 Work Experience
Year 10 Work Experience 2014 deadline for placement details is Friday 6th June to allow time for Health & Safety checks.
Year 8 Raising Awareness Project
As part of a recent Citizenship Day programme Year 8 Students investigated the area of Disability. They then narrowed down the topic to wheelchair access and design under the expert guidance of Mr Keane and the Design Technology team. The boys were tasked with designing and drawing a modern wheelchair having studied the athletes from the 2012 Paralympic Games. The top three Students selected for prizes were:
Cairo Ubiaro
Thawiur Rashid
Tainlin Lao.
Ms Jane Hatton who is Director of Evenbreak as well as the Patron of a College for Disabled Students kindly came into HGS to present the prizes. Jane commented on the outstanding quality of the work as well as the positive attitude shown towards disability at HGS.
Word of the Week – Nemesis
The word of the week commencing 19th May 2014 is: Nemesis.
This means a long-standing rival; an arch-enemy.
“will Harry Potter finally defeat his nemesis, Voldemort”
This display can be found in our Library.
SSAT Educational Outcomes Award
Handsworth Grammar School has been nominated to receive an Outstanding Progress Award at the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust Educational Outcomes Awards 2014. This is as a result of Handsworth Grammar School being in the top 20% nationally for Key Stage 4 Value-Added Scores. The SSAT have identified Handsworth Grammar School by using their Educational outcomes database which is a unique tool for comparison and collaboration that brings together the latest Department for Education performance and contextual data and Ofsted grading’s on every school in the country.
It is testament to the hard work and effort of our Teachers and Students as well as the continued progress and improvement over the last few years. Congratulations!
Duke of Edinburgh Award Update
Attention all potential Duke of Edinburgh participants.
As I could not supervise the expedition this year, I am organising a company to take over the expedition for this year’s participants.
It looks like costs will be around £220 for the Bronze and £290 for the silver (to be confirmed). This includes training, practice expedition and qualifying expedition, all equipment should be included. (Again, to be confirmed) (You will probably need your own sleeping bag and walking boots).
These prices are not confirmed yet, it can depend on how many sign up. (If less people sign up, it can cost more).
I am hoping that these expeditions can take place in September and/or October this year, which means that a deposit will be required by the end of June. (Probably 10%).
Please could you email me or see me in C3 to confirm that you are still interested in completing your DofE award and can take part in the expeditions? (Provisionally).
I will inform you of the details as soon as they are confirmed. I wanted to give you some warning of what is likely to happen and how much it will cost.
If you will not be able to meet this expense but still wish to take part, please let me know and I’ll see if we can organise some fundraising opportunities for you.
If you will not be at this school next year, unfortunately, you will not be able to attend with us. You can, however, join another group at a different school, college or University or join an open expedition. Your eDofE account can be transferred to another organisation. Please email me for details.
Thank you
Mrs Stanton
